FILE – In this Sept. 18, 2008 file photo, Mary Richardson Kennedy, the wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is shown. The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has resolved her New York drunken-driving case by pleading guilty to a lesser charge. Mary Kennedy pleaded guilty Thursday, July 22, 2010 to driving with ability impaired. She was arrested in May after a police officer reported seeing her drive over a curb outside a school in Bedford, 30 miles north of New York City. (AP Photo/Andy Kropa, File)

RFK Jr.’s wife guilty of driving impaired in NY

By JIM FITZGERALD (AP) – 8 hours ago

BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. — The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. settled her drunken-driving case without jail time Thursday night by pleading guilty to a minor charge.

Mary Kennedy admitted in court that her driving ability was impaired when she drove over a curb outside a school in Bedford, 30 miles north of New York City, in May.

Robert Kennedy, who has reportedly filed for divorce, was not in court. He also was not among the many relatives and friends who wrote supportive letters to Town Judge Kevin Quaranta.

“He was not asked,” said Mary Kennedy’s lawyer, Kerry Lawrence.

Robert Kennedy’s mother, Ethel Kennedy, and his sister Kerry Kennedy wrote letters, with Ethel Kennedy telling the judge her daughter-in-law is “kind, loving, gentle and generous.”

Mary Kennedy, 50, would not comment after the court session. Her lawyer said she was “pleased to get some closure.”

The charge of driving while ability impaired is a violation and carries no jail time. The judge fined Kennedy $500, suspended her driver’s license for 90 days and ordered her to attend two drunken-driving programs.

The judge also said Kennedy’s psychiatrist must submit quarterly reports about her progress.

“You’re going to have to live up to the continuation of your treatment,” he told Kennedy.

“Absolutely,” she replied.

The judge told Kennedy the letters from family and friends, including actor Dan Aykroyd and environmentalist Alex Matthiessen, praised “your life, your role as a parent.”

“I hope we don’t see you here again,” he added.

Kennedy was arrested May 15 on a charge of driving while intoxicated after a police officer reported seeing her drive over the curb. Her only passenger was a dog.

Police said her blood-alcohol level was 0.11 percent; the legal limit is 0.08 percent.

The arrest came three days after Robert Kennedy filed a matrimonial action with the Westchester County clerk’s office, naming his wife as defendant. Several news reports said he had filed for divorce, and most such filings are divorce suits, but the papers are sealed and both Kennedys have refused to comment. Lawrence would not comment Thursday night.

Robert Kennedy, a prominent environmental lawyer, is the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, both assassinated in the 1960s. Mary Kennedy is his second wife. They have four children.

Robert Kennedy had two children with his first wife, whom he divorced in 1994.

Bedford police said in May that they had responded to the Kennedy home twice in the week before Mary Kennedy’s arrest but no crimes had been committed.

WHITE PLAINS — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed to divorce his wife of 16 years just three days before Mary Kennedy was charged with drunken driving, according to records obtained by The Journal News.

The May 12 divorce filing also came a day before Bedford police responded to the Kennedy home for a “domestic incident” during which her husband alleged she was intoxicated, records show.

It was among several police visits to the Bedford estate in recent years, according to police incident reports.

Robert Kennedy, a prominent environmentalist at Pace University School of Law in White Plains, declined to comment this week.

“I’m not going to talk to you about my personal life,” he said Monday.

He is the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in California in 1968 during his run for president.

According to records on file with the Westchester County Clerk’s Office, the Kennedy family scion filed the papers on May 12.

On May 10, two days before the filing, Mary Kennedy called 911 herself, police said. Officers responding to the house reported she was “visibly intoxicated” and had “great difficulty collecting her thoughts and articulating her reasons for calling.” She told police her husband was “verbally abusive to herself and her children.”

On May 13, officers were summoned to the South Bedford Road home at 9:16 p.m. and filed a state domestic incident report before leaving.

On May 15, Mary Kennedy was stopped outside St. Patrick’s School on Greenwich Road near the couple’s home and charged with driving while intoxicated. Police said she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 percent at the time of her arrest. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

She was ordered to undergo evaluation for potential alcohol abuse and is due in Town Court on July 22.

Her lawyer in that case also declined comment on the divorce proceeding.

Details on the divorce filing, including grounds, were unavailable. New York state does not have a “no fault” divorce law, though it will go into effect in September.

The couple has four children.

This would be Kennedy’s second divorce. He was married to Emily Ruth Black. They divorced in 1994, a month before he married his current wife.

Mary Kennedy, right, the wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., leaves Bedford Court in Bedford with her sister on Thursday, as she appears on her DWI charge. The matter was adjourned until July 22.

(Photo: Mark Vergari / The Journal News)

BEDFORD, NY — The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared Thursday night in Town Court on a drunken-driving charge in a brief hearing that ended with no resolution to her case.

At her previous court appearance May 28, Mary Richardson Kennedy’s lawyer predicted he could wrap up her case Thursday. But Town Justice Kevin Quaranta said she needed to provide the court with more information. He did not say what was required, but Kennedy, 50, was previously ordered to undergo an evaluation to determine if she needs treatment for alcohol abuse.

The hearing was continued to July 22.

Kennedy was arrested about 9 p.m. May 15 outside St. Patrick’s School after she steered her 2004 Volvo station wagon over a curb while driving to an annual carnival there.

She was charged with driving while intoxicated after her blood-alcohol level measured 0.11 percent, police said. The state’s legal limit is 0.08 percent for DWI.

Kennedy pleaded not guilty. During the May 28 court appearance, she was ordered to surrender her driver’s license and undergo the evaluation.

The arrest exposed problems in the Kennedy household, with police records detailing several domestic disturbances.

Just two days before the DWI arrest, Bedford police filed a state domestic incident report after a 911 hang-up call from the residence on South Bedford Road. Police reported that Robert Kennedy, a leading environmentalist, drove the couple’s children to the carnival that day after an argument with his wife, telling police she was intoxicated and “acting irrational.”

On May 10, Mary Kennedy called 911 herself, police said. Officers responding to the house reported she was “visibly intoxicated” and had “great difficulty collecting her thoughts and articulating her reasons for calling.” She told police her husband was “verbally abusive to herself and her children,” records state.

Twice in 2007, Robert Kennedy told police he was worried that his wife might hurt herself, including once that September when he restrained her in the roadway after driving her to Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco to see a psychologist.

RFK JR.’S WIFE BUSTED FOR DWI

BEDFORD, NY — The wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was
ordered to surrender her driver’s license and
undergo an evaluation to determine if she needs
treatment for alcohol after she pleaded not guilty
Thursday to drunken driving.

Mary Richardson Kennedy, 50, smiled nervously
during the court proceeding, saying only “yes” when
Justice Kevin Quaranta asked if she understood the
charge.

“This is going to be treated like any other case, ”
Quaranta said.

Kennedy refused to answer questions outside the
courthouse before she was driven away in a black
Mercedes-Benz.

“We hope there will be a resolution of this case at
the next court appearance,” said her attorney, Kerry
Lawrence.

Kennedy’s husband, a leading environmental
activist, did not accompany her.

Kennedy was arrested about 9 p.m. May 15 outside
St. Patrick’s School on a charge of driving while
intoxicated. She had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11
percent, police said. The state’s legal limit is 0.08
percent for DWI.

Police said she steered her 2004 Volvo station
wagon over a curb as she drove up to an annual
carnival at the school.

Just two days earlier, Robert Kennedy drove the
couple’s children to the carnival after an argument
with his wife, according to Bedford police records
obtained this week under the state Freedom of
Information Law.

“Mr. Kennedy stated that his wife was intoxicated
and was acting irrational, so he took the children to
the carnival to remove them from the situation,”
Police Officer David Novick wrote in a state domestic
incident report filed after a 911 hang-up call from
the Kennedy home.

The incidents were the latest in a series of domestic
disturbances at the South Bedford Road estate,
police records show.

Mary's mugshot, May 15, 2010

On May 10, police received a 911 call from Mary
Kennedy at 5:55 p.m. in which she “reports a
dispute between her husband and her children,”
police said.

“Mrs. Kennedy was wearing a white bathrobe and
was barefoot,” Bedford officers wrote in a report.
“Mrs. Kennedy was visibly intoxicated and had great
difficulty collecting her thoughts and articulating
her reasons for calling 911 for assistance .”

“During the interviews, Mary Kennedy repeatedly
stated that she has ongoing issues with her
husband Robert, referring to him as verbally
abusive to herself and her children,” the report said.

Less than an hour after officers left the home, police
said Mary Kennedy called 911 three times within 10
minutes, but the officers “stated they had difficulty
understanding her.”

There were also two incidents involving the
Kennedys in 2007 — one in Bedford and one in
neighboring Mount Kisco.

On March 17, 2007, St. Patrick’s Day, Bedford police
were called to the Kennedy home at 9:51 p.m., the
records show.

“Responded to the Kennedy residence for a report
from Mr. Kennedy that his wife might be trying to
hurt herself,” police said.

Officers arrived to find Mary Kennedy, her sister and
her sister-in-law in the home.

“Spoke to all the parties and it was determined that
their (sic) must have been a (sic) error in
communication between Mr. Kennedy and his wife,”
the police report said.

On Sept. 4, 2007, Mount Kisco police reported a
disturbance between the Kennedys outside Northern
Westchester Hospital Center. According to an
incident report, Robert Kennedy took his wife to the
hospital to see a psychologist because he was
concerned about her mental state.

Mary Kennedy ran into the roadway and had to be
restrained by her husband “to keep her from hurting
herself,” the police report said. He summoned a
motorist to call police and later agreed to drive her
home.

In two earlier encounters with the Kennedys,
Bedford police said they received a 911 call from the
couple’s home on May 12, 2004.

When officers arrived, the nanny told them that one
of the Kennedy children accidentally dialed 911.

On April 22, 2003, Mary Kennedy told police that
her son had mistakenly dialed 911.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a problem or two on his trip to Tigard

by Jill Rehkopf Smith, The Oregonian

Wednesday June 17, 2009, 4:27 PM

Associated PressRobert F. Kennedy Jr.

TIGARD — It wasn’t through rain, snow, sleet and hail, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took a rocky path to Tigard last week from his home in New York.

The environmental lawyer, who was promoting a green partnership between Washington County’s Clean Water Services and Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, noticed that his car had a flat tire as he was driving to the airport in Newark, N.J.

The tire was supposed to be specially designed for continued driving while flat. Instead, it caught fire. Kennedy pulled over on the highway and had to hitchhike to the airport, where he began making calls seeking help with his car problem.

When he called AAA, its staff told him they couldn’t send someone out to tow his car unless he was at the car. By that time, of course, he was on the plane to Oregon.

After calling his secretary and a New Jersey official he had once campaigned for, Kennedy finally got someone to drive out to his car and take care of it.

One problem — the car was gone.

The spot where he had pulled over “was right in front of the New Jersey state prison,” Kennedy told the Tigard crowd last week. “So perhaps whoever stole it will be living there someday.”

And here’s this week’s edition of “Unearthed – News the Mainstream Media Forgot to Report” by Bobby Kennedy Jr. and Brendan DeMelle. We noticed that some nice Huff Po commentator gave this blog a plug as well – thanks, ya’ll.

Milloy’s science-deprived corporate front groups assert that “the most important junk science issue right now is global warming because it’s going to affect our freedoms and it’s going to affect our economy. It’s all based on the unproven notion that human emissions of carbon dioxide are affecting global climate.”

Milloy posits that Alcoa and other companies who express concern over climate change and call for federal action are “lobbying for laws that will make everybody be foolish.” He claims that any “global-warming regulation” will “drive the U.S. economy into a ditch.”

ExxonMobil has given at least $90,000 to Milloy’s fossil-friendly front groups over the years, joining other corporate contributors including Dow Chemical, General Motors, Chevron, Proctor & Gamble and asbestos/pesticide manufacturer W.R. Grace. Despite his documented tobacco and oil industry funding, Milloy remains a columnist for Fox News, whose executives cast a blind eye toward his role as a corporate shill.

CO2 Levels Reach Record High In The Atmosphere, Highest CO2 Levels in 800,000 Years
NOAA scientists report that CO2 levels in the atmosphere are rising faster than expected, and now stand at 387 parts per million, up almost 40% since the Industrial Revolution and the highest level in recorded history.

Another new study published in the journal Nature by a team of Swiss, French and German scientists adds 150,000 years of data to climate records assembled from previous ice drilling, confirming that CO2 levels are the highest in at least the past 800,000 years. “We can firmly say that today’s concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane are 28 and 124% higher respectively than at any time during the last 800,000 years,” said Thomas Stocker, an author of the report.

These new findings all but guarantee that even the most ambitious proposals to curb greenhouse gas emissions may fall short at stopping dangerous climate disruptions.

Martin Parry, co-chair of the IPCC working group on climate impacts, said: “Despite all the talk, the situation is getting worse. Levels of greenhouse gases continue to rise in the atmosphere and the rate of that rise is accelerating. We are already seeing the impacts of climate change and the scale of those impacts will also accelerate, until we decide to do something about it.”Vaccine Court To Hear New Round Of Thimerosal/Autism Test Cases
Hearings resume this week in the federal vaccine court, which will consider the test cases of two autistic boys from Portland, OR whose families claim their autism resulted directly from exposure to the mercury preservative thimerosal in childhood vaccines.
Overall, nearly 4,900 families have filed claims with the U.S. Court of Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their children. Thimerosal, which is approximately 50% mercury by weight, is still present at significant concentrations in the flu vaccine and certain booster shots including tetanus and diphtheria.USDA Blocks Voluntary Mad Cow Testing
The Bush administration has employed an antiquated law in order to stop Creekstone Farms, a natural beef company, from testing its herd for mad cow disease. Creekstone had hoped to voluntarily test its entire herd to reassure customers around the world that its natural beef is safe from the disease, which is more common at industrial factory farms. But the Bush USDA has blocked Creekstone’s access to test kits that can identify the disease markers in processed beef products.

At least three cases of mad cow disease have been confirmed in the U.S. since 2003. The Bush administration claims that voluntary testing by proactive beef companies would create confusion and possibly result in a false positive that could scare consumers away from U.S. beef.

The USDA tests less than 1 percent of the nation’s beef cattle for mad cow disease, while many other countries test a far greater percentage of their herds. Creekstone formerly sold its products in Japan but has been blocked from doing so because Japan requires 100 percent testing of its beef for mad cow disease. Creekstone is suing USDA to gain access to the test kits, alleging interference by the Bush administration.

Wounded Veterans Denied Help in Registering to Vote
Wounded veterans will have a much more difficult time attempting to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election. The Department of Veterans Affairs has retreated on a recently announced policy to allow voter registration drives at veterans’ hospitals, claiming that any assistance provided to hospitalized veterans would violate the Hatch Act, which restricts political activities by federal employees. Members of Congress and voting rights advocates argue that the interference amounts to voter suppression, and that it will greatly hinder wounded, ill, and disabled veterans’ ability to cast ballots in the fall election.Fallen U.S. Soldiers Cremated At Pet Facility
Defense Secretary Robert Gates learned from an appalled Army officer that Dover Air Force base – where the remains of fallen soldiers first arrive back into the United States – contracted out the cremation of service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan to a local pet crematorium. The Pentagon has discontinued the practice due to outrage among military families. More than 4,600 soldiers’ remains have passed through Dover Air Force base since 9/11. About 10 percent of fallen soldiers have requested cremation. The Washington Post reported this story on the front page Saturday, the slowest news day of the week.

The practice only came to light when a fellow soldier attended the cremation of a fallen friend and emailed Defense Secretary Gates to explain that when his friend’s coffin was taken to the crematory it was not flag draped and when it arrived the only sign outside the crematory said ‘Friends Forever, Kent County Pet Cremation Service.’Blackwater Contract Renewed, Company Unlikely to Face Criminal Charges for Iraqi Civilian Deaths
Private military contractor Blackwater is unlikely to face criminal charges for the shooting deaths of seventeen civilians in Baghdad in September 2007. An ongoing Justice Department investigation is narrowly focused on as few as three or four Blackwater guards who could be indicted in the civilian shootings. This would exonerate Blackwater’s executives and pave the way for further abuses by essentially guaranteeing the continued outsourcing of security duties to private contractors who face few repercussions for such atrocities.

The light-handed investigation highlights the fact that the Bush administration is relying heavily on private contractors in the Iraq war. State Department spokesman Patrick F. Kennedy admits that “We cannot operate without private security firms in Iraq,” and adds that “If the contractors were removed, we would have to leave Iraq.” The Bush administration recently renewed Blackwater’s contract to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq for another year. Blackwater continues to provide around 1,000 personnel in Iraq under its State Department contract.State Department Whistleblowers Allege Iraq Corruption Cover-up
Two former State Department employees detailed to members of Congress last week how the Bush administration repeatedly ignored high-level corruption within the Iraqi government and hid potentially embarrassing information in order to maintain bilateral relations with Baghdad. The whistleblowers explained that their post, the Office of Accountability and Transparency, was chronically understaffed and its warnings and recommendations ignored. The State Department’s policies “not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government,” according to Arthur Brennan, who headed the now-defunct office ostensibly charged with training anti-corruption officers in Iraqi agencies. Brennan said the office was “window dressing” and that the report his staff produced detailing the corruption was initially ignored and later retroactively classified in order to hide the truth about the depth of corruption.McCain Aides Resign Over Myanmar Junta Connections
John McCain lost two key aides this week as the brutality of the Myanmar junta has been exposed in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. Doug Goodyear, whom McCain picked to run the 2008 Republican National Convention, resigned after it was disclosed that his lobbying firm, DCI Group, represented the military regime. Doug Davenport, who also resigned as McCain’s regional campaign manager for the mid-Atlantic states, founded the DCI Group’s lobbying practice and oversaw the contract with Myanmar. DCI collected $348,000 in 2002 and 2003 to lobby on behalf of the junta. Other DCI Group clients include ExxonMobil and General Motors. The group is also a major player in GOP circles.
Hundreds of thousands of lives remain in danger because of the totalitarian regime’s efforts to thwart international assistance. The United Nations now reports that up to 2.5 million people have been “severely affected” by the cyclone and the junta’s subsequent interference in the international effort to provide aid to survivors.McCain Earns A Zero From LCV For Missing Every Major Environmental Vote This Congress
Sen. John McCain has missed every major environmental vote this Congress and ranks last among current members of Congress according to the League of Conservation Voters, which tracks how each member votes on environmental issues. McCain’s lifetime LCV score is just 24 percent.

While McCain is known for sponsoring legislation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and for talking about the threat of global warming in speeches, he has yet to vote for proposed efforts to tackle the problem. McCain was the only member of Congress to skip every environmental vote scored by LCV this session, earning a score lower than members who missed much of the session due to serious illnesses or death. The 15 missed votes included a key vote on repealing tax giveaways to big oil – a measure that failed by only one vote.

McCain cast votes against tightening fuel efficiency standards, failed to require public utilities to provide a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources, and removed Endangered Species Act protections that conflicted with the priorities of Arizona businesses.Congress Seeks to Limit Use of Secretive National Security Letters
Committees in both houses of Congress are working to limit the FBI’s ability to collect private data on virtually anybody using a secretive tool called a National Security Letter (NSL). The FBI’s use of NSLs exploded since passage of the PATRIOT Act which paved the way for rampant abuse by removing legal impediments that protected the right to privacy and other civil liberties. NSLs can be used to obtain an individual’s phone use data, financial statements, insurance and business information. An individual who is served with an NSL must comply with its request for information and is gagged in most circumstances from discussing the request. Unlike subpoenas, NSLs aren’t subject to the approval of any court or judge, and can be issued under extremely broad circumstances.

A 2007 FBI audit discovered hundreds of instances in which the bureau collected information despite lacking the authority to do so. The FBI deleted only four of these inappropriately obtained files, according to the audit. Hundreds of other examples of NSL abuse were reported in an inspector general review in 2007, and a follow-up report released this March concluded that the FBI still has not implemented safeguards to limit such abuse.

Current Congressional efforts aim to drastically limit the circumstances under which NSLs are issued and to strictly regulate how the FBI handles information obtained through their use.The White House Likely Purged Critical Pre-Iraq War Email Archives
Lawyers for the Bush administration claim that a “primitive” email preservation system is to blame for wide gaps in its email archives covering critical pre-war periods in 2003. The White House admitted in court this week that it has no back-up archives for the missing emails, a claim information technology experts say is hard to fathom. The White House predicts it may never be able to recover the archives, which include 12 work days with no e-mails at all for President Bush’s immediate office and 16 days for Vice President Dick Cheney.

The missing emails are thought to include conversations about the bad intelligence used to launch the Iraq war, the identity leak of former C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame Wilson, and various unspecified activities involving Karl Rove.

By law, the missing communications belong to the taxpayers, according to the ongoing federal lawsuit filed against the White House by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, and the Washington, D.C. watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.